King's Ransom
by LanieSullivan
Summary: Response to a challenge and a Christmas filler for season 2 since we didn't get to see what the characters were doing for the holidays in 1984. Angst warning.


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

 **AN:** This is a combination of two holiday challenges, one to outline what a secondary character is doing for the holidays and another for one character to tell another about the best Christmas they ever had. On an additional note, I wanted to fill in one of the Christmases that we didn't get to see on the show and add a bit of background on just how Lee knew so much about Joe at the beginning of TWWH.

 **December 24, 1984**

This was not how he had ever imagined spending the holidays. Sure, since he'd travelled for work so much in recent years, he'd had his fair share of less-than-perfect Christmases, but this one took the prize. Now, here he was in the southeastern region of Malta weaving his way through throngs of people and trying to get back to his temporary office without being shot, stabbed or otherwise injured. Of course, the violence here wasn't new. It had been going on since the 1981 election, but it had escalated in the last couple of days since the resignation of Prime Minister Mintoff. He heard sounds of gunfire and ducked behind a parked car in the hopes of dodging more random bullets from the violent protesters in the streets. As he did so, he couldn't help wishing he'd never been given this assignment. He generally loved his job, but right now he was wishing he'd listened to Amanda about staying home.

The certainty he'd had a few years ago that he could use his skills to help people was no longer quite so solid and he was beginning to question if this was the right kind of job for him. One thing he could be certain of was that even if his chosen career path was indeed right for him, this place was not and as soon as he could get to a phone, he planned to call his boss to insist on a change in assignment. He'd begged to be evacuated for a solid month now, but his pleas had fallen on deaf ears with the same tired excuse that he was needed. Now was the time to stop asking and simply demand it. He had put enough years in that he should have some say in where he was sent. If they still refused to comply, he'd leave. He was skilled enough and educated enough that he could easily find another job if it came down to it.

He saw an opening amidst the rioters and lunged for it before anyone could start shooting in his direction again. He breathed a sigh of relief when he made it safely across the street as he paused to catch his breath. That feeling was short-lived when he was grabbed by the arm and yanked into the alley just before another bullet ricocheted off a nearby building. He quickly shifted into a defensive posture until he heard a sharp hiss of, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

He rolled his eyes and retorted, "Sure, that was right at the top of my to-do list today, right up there with 'answer stupid questions.'"

"Look, Pal, I just saved your ass here so there's no need for the sarcasm," his new companion replied curtly.

He nodded and took in the other man's appearance, his sandy hair in disarray, no doubt from the exertions needed to evade the mobs. He noted that while his jaw was firm, there was compassion in his hazel eyes, perhaps even concern. "Sorry. I'm just on edge," he apologized.

"No need to be sorry. It's understandable given the situation here. Instead of being sorry, you should be more careful." He gestured down the alley and said, "Come on. Let's get you out of here. I know a way around this mess."

"You're an American too?" he questioned the other man.

"Yeah, but let's save the pleasantries until we get outta' here, huh? Are you armed?"

"Not anymore," he replied. "I was, but I ran out of bullets trying to defend myself and just dropped my pistol when having it on me made me a target."

The other man nodded in understanding. "Makes sense. Stay close behind me then," he instructed commandingly as he drew his own gun.

He obediently followed the stranger's order as the pair weaved their way through back alleys and side streets. He couldn't help noticing how adept the other man was at doing so, how he led with his gun, and how cautious he was in avoiding the frenzied crowds. He watched him closely figuring that if his employers were going to continue to send him to places like this, he could stand to learn a thing or two.

When they rounded a corner, he protested, "Hey, I need to go the other direction to get back to my office."

"Not a chance, Buddy, not unless you want to end up riddled with bullets."

"But I need to get to a phone," he argued. "I need my boss to get me the hell out of here."

"I'll get you to a phone. Promise. _This_ way," the sandy-haired man insisted with an emphatic gesture.

He had no choice but to follow. After all, this man seemed to have been trained for such a thing in the way he moved and the way he reacted to the slightest noise. As he let himself be led by this man, the sounds of the crowds dwindled behind them and he finally took a deep breath when they stepped inside a seedy-looking motel. While grateful that he was safe, he couldn't help cringing slightly at the dilapidated condition of the building.

The other man caught it and as he stowed his pistol and unlocked the door to his room, he said, "Hey, it may not be the Ritz, but it's safe. I've been in worse places, believe me."

"So have I," he replied with a grimace. "So, are you military?"

The younger man replied with a shake of his head. "No, just a guy on a job like you."

"What kind of job?"

"Sorry. That's classified."

"Can't you at least tell me your name? I owe you my life."

"Lee," he answered in a clipped tone. "And you owe me nothing. On the contrary, I'm paying a debt I owe by saving you...Mr. King."

He looked at Lee sideways in confusion. _How does he know my name? Did the EAO actually listen and send someone to get me?_ "I don't understand. Do we know each other?"

"No, but we have a...uh..." Lee faltered as he tried to figure out how to answer Joe King's question without giving too much away. "Let's just say that we have a...um...a mutual acquaintance."

"Who?"

"Didn't you say you needed to make a phone call?" He waved his hand impatiently to the nightstand across the room. "Phone's over there."

Joe had been around the world enough to know what was what and conceded. From the evasive verbal maneuvers he'd just witnessed as well as the physical ones out in the streets, he knew all too well that the man he'd just met was an intelligence agent of some sort and that he wasn't likely to get any more answers out of this taciturn man.

While Joe made his phone call, Lee reflected on how he'd ended up here in the first place. Of course, he knew through the Agency all about the political unrest that had been ongoing here for ages and how they were in constitutional crisis due to the ongoing feuds between the Nationalist and Labour parties, but until two days ago when he'd heard that his partner's ex-husband was here and pleading to come home, he'd stayed out of it because there had been too much trouble on the home front, the most recent of which being his and Amanda's collaboration with KGB agent, Yuri Valov and saving D.C. from the threat of nuclear attack. He was curious what Joe King would think if he knew what his ex-wife now did for a living and how she'd been in predicaments not too dissimilar from their current one.

He glanced over at the other man and as he listened to him arguing with whoever was on the other end, he couldn't help wondering just what some supposedly mild-mannered lawyer was doing here and why he wasn't with his family for Christmas. While he himself didn't really embrace the holidays since he hadn't seen too many pleasant ones in his lifetime, Joe King should be different. He had children and had once had a wife waiting at home for him. So what had changed? Amanda didn't talk about her divorce and in fact, rarely ever mentioned her ex-husband's name. She occasionally even became downright evasive when asked about the subject, pulling her typical "repeat the question" maneuver...a great tactic if she were being questioned by the enemy, but annoying as hell when he was trying to get to know her better.

He shook his head as if to also shake those thoughts from his mind and forced himself to think about the present situation, however, the questions he had wouldn't stop gnawing at him. What would cause a man to leave a loving family if he had other choices? Growing up with his uncle, he'd have given anything to have a real family so why did this man give it up? Did he just not care? When he saw Joe was wrapping up his phone call, he quickly turned away to avoid being caught staring.

"Damn!" Joe swore as he slammed the receiver back into its cradle.

"Trouble?"

"You could say that. They said they have no problem getting me out of here, but it's going to be at least another three days. I just don't know if I can last that long here. I'm just supposed to be here to offer legal assistance and I got caught in the middle of this. I don't know what the EAO was thinking when they sent me here." He let out a weary sigh and sank forlornly into a rickety wooden chair. "And it's not just the danger. I miss my family."

So he _did_ care. That was something. Lee was silent for a moment as he contemplated his next move. He reflected back for a moment on his recent impromptu cover with Amanda. Yuri had assumed, as many people did, that he and Amanda were lovers and they'd simply gone with it. He had to admit, while he'd been annoyed by playing couple covers with her in the past, it had been rather pleasant this time and it had begun to get him thinking of what it would be like in reality. So, now he had a problem. He knew he could make a call to Billy and he'd be able to get Joe home much faster than the EAO could, but the nagging, selfish part of him knew that he'd be sending him right back to Amanda. He let out a deep sigh, He knew instinctively what the right thing to do was. That was why he'd insisted that Billy let him come here in the first place...without telling Amanda, of course.

"I might be able to do something to help you out," he grudgingly told Amanda's ex. "Just let me make a quick call." Without waiting for an answer, he turned toward the phone and began dialing. He quickly explained the situation to his superior and when he turned his attention back to Joe, he found him gazing intently at a wallet-sized photo. "He's gonna' call back in a minute." He nodded to the photograph. "Your kids?" he questioned even though he knew the answer. He'd seen Phillip and Jamie enough from a distance to know their faces anywhere, but he was hoping that since he couldn't get any straight answers from Amanda, maybe he could from Joe.

"Yeah. Phillip will be twelve in March and Jamie just turned nine last month."

"Good-looking boys," Lee commented. "You travel a lot, right? Isn't it hard for you to be away from them so much?"

Joe nodded. "It really is, but the work I'm doing is so important and I know Amanda-that's my ex-wife-I know she takes good care of them and there are people out there who don't have anyone to look out for them. I write to them every chance I get and I call when I can. But it's really hard to be so far away from them, especially this time of year."

Lee clenched his fists as his sides as his anger at the other man for leaving his family began to build to a boil. He knew he couldn't say what was really on his mind without giving his feelings away, so instead he asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone, "When was the last time you saw them at Christmas?"

"Two years ago. It wasn't the most pleasant time though since it was just after the divorce was finalized and we were still trying to figure things out with the boys." He smiled at the picture and continued, "But I still remember the first Christmas with both of them. Jamie was only a month old and Phillip was partially excited by being a big brother and partially annoyed. He was sure that now that there were two of them, that meant Santa wouldn't bring him as many presents. But Amanda, being the intuitive mom that she is, she sat him down and explained to him that just because 'Santa' had someone new to take care of, that didn't mean that he stopped taking care of the people he already did."

Lee let out a chuckle. "That sounds like Am-" He stopped himself when he realized that he couldn't reveal that he knew Amanda and stammered, "A-a-a mom who knows what she's talking about."

"Yeah. She's pretty amazing," Joe replied fondly.

"So...uh...why didn't it work out?" Lee casually asked.

Joe shrugged. "We were just too different...we had too many different ideas about our future. But I'll tell you something, that first Christmas the four of us had together as a family was probably the best one I ever had."

"But then why couldn't you-" Lee's next question was interrupted by the phone ringing. _Dammit!_ He felt like he'd just started to get somewhere too. He sighed once more and answered the call, listening and jotting down notes as Billy laid out their exit strategy. "Thanks, Billy. I owe you one." He turned one final time to Joe and held up the notepad. "I've got your way home," he declared. With Amanda's forgiving nature, he just hoped that didn't mean the home Joe King had purposely left behind.

"Thank you," Joe replied gratefully. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Actually, there is. You can keep quiet about how you got home once you get there. You can't tell anyone you know that you met me. You got it?" As much as he cared for Amanda, he didn't want her knowing what he'd been up to because he knew she'd feel as if she owed him something and he didn't need that kind of guilt weighing on his mind. It was enough for him that he'd done the right thing. Besides, with the arrangements Billy had made, she never needed to know that he'd even left the States.

"Yeah, but couldn't I at least send a thank-you to your boss or something for you saving my ass out there?"

"If you really want to thank me, look after your family," Lee responded sharply. He shuddered as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He knew if Joe did as he suggested, there would no longer be a need for himself in Amanda's life because they'd have someone else to care for them..to protect them the way he'd been doing for the past year. He decided it was worth the risk though. He'd rather take the chance of losing Amanda to Joe than put her children in danger of losing their father. Having been through it, he wouldn't wish that on any child. Off Joe's taken-aback look, he shifted gears, "Listen, there's a car coming to get us soon so we can go get your stuff and get us both on a plane out of here so I need to get packed up myself." He turned one final time away from the other man's gaze.

"Well, thank you again," Joe said softly. "And Merry Christmas. This is the best Christmas present I could have asked for."

"Yeah," Lee muttered, but thought this was really his Christmas present to Amanda even though she'd never know about it. "Um...Merry Christmas to you too," he added as an afterthought as he continued his packing without turning around, too lost in his own mind to give Joe's words much more thought. He worried about what would happen once Joe was back on U.S. soil. With the father of her children back in her life, would Amanda still choose to work at the Agency and if not, could he ever have a Merry Christmas again without her in his life?


End file.
